This invention is concerned with the helmet and its associated face guard normally worn by football players. More specifically, this invention is concerned with a football helmet and a grid-type face guard which is attached to the helmet in a unique and novel manner which permits an immediate detachment or break away of the face guard from the helmet with a slight pull on the face guard in any direction away from the helmet.
Football helmet face guards are available in a variety of configurations. The most common face guard is a grid-type fabricated from steel rods or bars approximately one fourth inch (0.6 cm) in diameter. Horizontally and vertically positioned bars are welded together to form a unitary grid-like structure. The rods are then covered with a rubber-like material. The face guard is usually bolted to the forehead and each side of the helmet.
The obvious purpose of such a face guard is to protect the face of the wearer, particularly his eyes, nose, and mouth, without unduly restricting his vision during play. While such face guards do in fact serve their intended purpose, they introduce another hazard which, in the view of many, is of very serious concern, particularly where younger athletes are concerned.
Football is a heavy contact sport. In the heat of battle, all too often the face guard presents a convenient handle or lever to assist in bringing down the ball carrier. While "face masking" is prohibited, it does never the less occur with alarming frequency. Most of the time its occurrence is accidental. At times it simply cannot be avoided.
Unfortunately, face masking can cause serious injury to the neck, back and spinal cord of the player to which it is applied. All too frequently such injuries are more serious and permanent than those injuries to the face that caused the masks to be initially adopted. The problem is serious for anyone playing the game, whether he be a professional athlete or a young grade school boy. It is particularly serious among the younger players. Professional athletes are superbly conditioned athletes, better able to resist injury from face masking. Younger players lack the skill and muscle development to resist without injury a violent face masking.
A number of attempts have been made in the past to correct this situation by providing a face guard that would detach itself from the helmet in the event of face masking. None of the prior art devices have totally solved the problem. All suffer from one or more deficiencies that prevent their acceptability. A number of prior art detachable face guards suffered from the deficiency of being knocked off by a blow toward the face guard, particularly by a blow to the lower region of the grid-type face guard. Such a face guard could become detached through normal scrimmage contact or a fall to the ground when tackled, eliminating all face protection under conditions when it was really needed. Other prior art devices required much too strong a pull to detach the face guard thereby affording little or no protection against face masking. Other face guards of the prior art could be detached only by a pull in one direction, namely, in a direction perpendicular to and away from the center of the face of the wearer. A pull from any other angle would not detach the face guard.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a unique and novel means for attaching a face guard to a football helmet.
A particular object of this invention is to provide a football helmet with a face guard fastened to said helmet in such a manner that the face guard can be detached by a simple slight pull on the face guard in any direction away from the helmet and yet not be detached by any blow or impact in a direction toward the face guard.
Other objects will become apparent from the description of the invention which follows.